WASHINGTON, DC – Phil Mendelson today introduced the “Truancy Referral Emergency Amendment Act of 2015” and the “UDC DREAM Amendment Act of 2015.”

The “Truancy Referral Emergency Amendment Act of 2015” – co-introduced by Councilmember David Grosso – clarifies the term “unexcused absence” as missing a full day of school for referral to Court Social Services Division (CSS) of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

“We currently have students being sent to court who are chronically tardy but not chronically truant,” Mendelson said. “An immediate need exists for this legislation so these youth do not end up inadvertently involved in the juvenile justice system.”

Chairman Mendelson also introduced the “UDC DREAM Amendment Act of 2015” to provide District residents, regardless of federal immigration status, the ability to receive in-state tuition and local financial aid at a UDC school or campus as long as they meet certain District graduation and residency requirements.

“Providing these students with in-state tuition and access to local financial aid will allow to them to obtain a post-secondary education and enable them to contribute to the District’s economy,” Chairman Mendelson noted.

Also of note, the Chairman referred the “Universal Paid Leave Act of 2015” to the Committee of the Whole. The legislation will establish a fund that will enable workers in the District of Columbia to receive up to 16 weeks of paid leave for a major life events. The government-run fund will be supported by payments from employers, the self-employed, and certain individual employees. Chairman Mendelson has committed to holding a public hearing on the bill this fall.

Proposals from DC Mayor Muriel E. Bowser Will Dominate Council Agenda – Bowser is poised to win approval from the council Tuesday for a deal in which the city will sell land for that project at a below-market price in exchange for the developer including more than 100 affordable housing units.  Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said that, despite some reservations, he is prepared to recommend approving the sale.  [The Washington Post]

DC Council Votes on Land Deal for Shaw Whole Foods – Mendelson and Councilwoman Mary Cheh had both previously expressed concern about the property’s $1.4 million sale price. The site is expected to be assessed at more than $17 million for 2016. At the time, officials from MRP and Ellis explained that the difference had to do with the requirement to build 30 percent of the units as affordable.  [Washington Business Journal]

DC Council Approves Spending Plan for Surplus $23 Million – Several council members last week questioned whether those efforts would have enough oversight and requested more details on Bowser’s plan. Tuesday’s unanimous vote came after days of hurried, closed-door meetings at government headquarters, as the mayor’s staff sought to assuage council members’ concerns.  Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) had floated an amendment to withhold some of the funds until the mayor’s office provided answers, but he said that by Tuesday morning, lawmakers had been given “considerably more information” to make their decision.  [The Washington Post]

How DC Turned $27 Million into $400,000 – In Mendelson’s Sept. 15 letter to Kenner, he urged Bowser’s team to do better. “I urge the Executive to use its bargaining power to improve this deal for the city,” he wrote. “The fact that there will be 107 below-market housing units and a much-wanted grocery store does not change the fact that two independent appraisals find the city’s price to be about $5.5 million below value.”  Mendelson said the money could have gone to helping end the homeless crisis, to other affordable-housing projects or to the nearly 50-year-old Garrison Elementary, one of the city’s oldest and most run-down public schools, which lost half of its redevelopment funding this year.  [The Washington Post]

DC Mayor Launches New Initiatives That Include Training for Inmates – Although Bowser stressed that only working misdemeanor offenders would be eligible for pretrial release, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said that misdemeanor suspects being held at the D.C. jail are there because a court has already determined that they are a danger to society or a flight risk.  “Nobody is automatically held pretrial,” Mendelson said in a phone interview.  [The Washington Post]

DC, Wizards to Announce Deal on Practice Facility in Southeast – “I think it’s an intriguing proposition, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the details are,” DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said.  [NBC4]

DC Mayor to Present $23 Million Supplemental Budget to Council – Because the budget involves fiscal 2015 funds, the District government will have to spend it before fiscal 2016 starts on Oct. 1.  That leaves the council with little time to hold hearings or to make changes to the document before sending it back to the mayor. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said that he met Tuesday with Bowser and told her that he would support council action on the document next week but that he would not guarantee support for all of her proposed measures.  [The Washington Post]

Could More Tax Abatement Be in Play in the District?  Mendelson Says It’s ‘Case-by-Case’ – “I think we have to look at it very carefully on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “There is a difference between The Advisory Board and, say, ACME Pest Control. There’s just a lot of aspects to this that are unique.”  [Washington Business Journal]

Amid Weekend Violence, DC’s Homicide Count Surges Past 100 – “People want to know why there has not been a clear answer given, and that’s not to say that there is an easy answer,” DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson recently said, the Post reports.  [DCist]

DC Mayor to Ask for Expanded Police Powers Amid Homicide Spike – “Before there is violence, I believe there are things we can do to deter someone from even picking up a gun,” Mendelson said. “If they do, they will know immediately that they have made their decision” to potentially return to prison.  [The Washington Post]

Mayor Bowser to Announce Plan to Fight Crime Spike – “The idea behind it is that we have to step up the pressure on gun violence,” DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said.  [NBC4]